


Surprise, Juggie.

by ExMachina187



Series: Bound, Forever and Always [3]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017) RPF
Genre: Birthday Cake, Birthday Party, Birthday Presents, Bughead Secret Santa, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Gen, Parent!Bughead, Surprise Ending, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 01:36:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17173361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExMachina187/pseuds/ExMachina187
Summary: It's time to celebrate the Jones twins' fifth birthday. But as it turns out, there's more for them to celebrate than just the girls' party.





	Surprise, Juggie.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my Bughead Secret Santa fic to the lovely @bughead on Tumblr. I'm so sorry for the late gift, we all know how busy Christmas week can get. But I hope you like it, and Merry Christmas, love. <3
> 
> Huge thanks to @Mbuzz for betaing this piece of work for me and helping me out with it.

When Betty had slowly whispered the fact that she was pregnant in Jughead’s ear for the first time while they cuddled, she hadn’t expected him to sit up straight and kiss her so hard that she would be sure her lips would be bruised the next day. Neither had she expected him to pick her up and spin her around the room as they both giggled and laughed while exclaiming their love to each other. She had certainly not expected him to murmur sweet nothings to her belly as he held her tenderly and placed a gentle kiss right above her belly button, proceeding to make amazing love to her until they were boneless, blissfully sated, him spooning her body, his hand placed on her lower abdomen in a caress as he peppered her neck with kisses until she succumbed to slumber. 

 

 

And she didn’t expect all that this time, either, but she knew well enough to know he’d have a similar reaction this time around as well. He had made sure of it.

 

 

                    _______________

 

 

“Okay, that’s it. I’ve seen enough of distracted Betty and I need _my_ active Betty back, so no more excuses. Spill.” Veronica threatened, pointing her spatula at her best friend while she stared back at her like a deer caught in headlights. 

 

 

“What?” Betty asked, dumbly. 

 

 

“See this is what I’m talking about! You’re here with me physically but I don’t see you here mentally. Tell me what’s up with you,” Veronica said. 

 

 

Betty sighed and yawned right after, exhausted. She hadn’t been able to sleep so well the night before, having had a hard time containing her excitement with Jughead laying asleep right beside her. “I’m sorry, V. I’ve just had a lot on my mind at the moment and I know I haven’t been the best best friend lately. It’s just that… ugh!” Betty faltered.

 

 

“We can sit down if you want, you’re more important to me than this cake. We’re already way ahead and a short break wouldn’t hurt.” Veronica offered. For the past three hours, they had been working on a _Frozen_ birthday cake for Jughead and Betty’s twin daughters, Rosie and Rhea, who were turning 5 the next day. They were more than halfway done and proud of their progress but with Betty zoning out more and more as the time passed, Veronica soon realised Betty had something big on her mind and Veronica was determined to find out what it was. 

 

 

When Betty reluctantly nodded back, Veronica walked up to the cabinet where they kept the liquor and was about to grab a bottle of wine when Betty stopped her. 

 

 

“Too early for that,” Betty said, dismissively. 

 

 

Veronica snorted at that and still grabbed the wine as well as two goblets to pour it in. “Nonsense! It’s never too early for wine.” 

 

 

Betty sighed again. She knew there was nothing in this universe that could come between the brunette princess and her wine, hence she didn’t object any further, for now. They settled on the loveseat in the living room and Veronica waited for her to get comfortable before she asked, “What’s wrong, B? You’ve been so distant and tired lately. Is it because of Jug? Did he do something?” Veronica was about to rant away when Betty stunned her to silence before she could continue. 

 

 

“ _I’m pregnant_ ,” Betty whispered quietly, barely loud enough for her to decipher the words clearly. 

 

 

“Oh, my god! Congratulations! I’m so happy for you, Betty. Does Jug know?” Veronica leaped off her seat and hugged Betty, clutching her close and tight. When she pulled back, Betty remained silent and that was enough to answer Veronica’s question. 

 

 

“When are you going to tell him? Oooh, scratch that, how are you going to tell him?”, Veronica asked, the glass of wine she’d been pouring for Betty now being thrown back her own throat as she realised the reason for Betty’s hesitance to her liquid courage tactic.

 

 

“I don’t know, V. I just found out about this yesterday and I haven’t had the nerve to tell him, yet. He’s been so invested in submitting his chapter before the deadline tomorrow and I didn’t want to distract him. The twins have been asking for him to read them their bedtime tales so I’ve been making excuses to satiate them for as long as possible, but even they’re getting fussy now. And Rhea hasn’t been sleeping properly at night at all, I told you about this over the phone right? She’s been scared of the dark ever since Abel and Noah managed to get her to watch that stupid horror film, Lights Out. She is so afraid some kind of witch is going to emerge from the shadows and take her away, that she’s been sneaking into our room more and more often and I’m officially done with trying to get her to get over it. It was so annoying, Jughead actually suggested the idea to gift her my childhood nightlight, and I totally agreed with him.” Betty laughed as she thought back to the scowl on Jughead’s face when he’d told how he’d had to sleep on the guestroom bed because Rhea had starfished on his side of the bed, leaving no space for him whatsoever. Veronica listened to her while she let out all her frustrations and laughed with her best friend. 

 

 

“Still. How are you going to make the announcement?” Veronica asked giddily. 

 

 

“I really have no idea how, honestly.” she sighed restlessly and turned her body towards Veronica, lifting and folding her legs under herself as she stared at her best friend curiously. “Any idea what I should do?” Betty asked, knowing that she was about ready to burst with excitement. 

 

 

“Of course, I do!” She shrieked in joy and jumped right into the plan she’d been formulating in her head since the mere words had left Betty’s lips and she couldn’t wait to start working on it.

 

 

                    _______________

 

 

Betty was so glad to see everything play out so well. Veronica had gotten there with the cake before the rest of the guests, which were sincerely inner circle only consisting of Alice, FP, Toni, Cheryl, their son Noah Blossom-Topaz (who was only three months younger than the girls), Sweet Pea, Veronica, their son Abel Conner (older than the twins by a few years but still liked playing with the naughty children), Archie and Valerie, and their daughter Lizzy Andrews (one month older than Rosie and Rhea). Jughead had been too busy getting the twins ready to pry into anything around him. It had been fairly easy to blame her external giddiness on the party when Jughead had asked her why she was so joyous around the time the games ended and it was time to open their presents. She’d been nervous about the reveal initially but then he’d seen her jittering and thought it was because of Alice’s skeptical and calculating gaze on her and he’d been there for her when she was nearing her breaking point. He’d held her hand firmly, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and rubbing her shoulder blades with hope to relieve some of the tension in them. 

 

 

Betty had felt her heart swoon in her chest at his attempt to calm her and the fact that it had worked wasn’t even surprising. He always knew what she needed, no matter what situation it was, and she expected no less from him. With that assurance in mind, she sat down with Jughead on the carpeted floor opposite Rhea and Rosie and handed them their first presents. 

 

 

They were two boxes covered in white wrapping paper and two light pink ribbons interwoven in a bow shape across it. It was obvious the pristinely packed gifts were from Alice. The twins opened them excitedly to reveal two matching sweaters in pink with the letter _R_ embroidered on both in a brighter, contrasting shade. The girls squealed as they saw that they both had them in the exact same shades. They always loved twinning and pranking people together. Jughead folded them neatly and watched as the girls thanked Alice for them nicely and put them aside as the twins grabbed the next gifts that were packaged a little roughly but still looked heartily full. FP got up from the couch and sat down with his granddaughters, watching them unwrap the presents unceremoniously, ripping the paper out of their way. Everyone laughed on seeing the urgency of curiosity shining through their childish antics. The brown paper packaging had encased two matching shiny leather jackets, just like the matching pair their parents and Auntie Toni had. Whenever they’d seen any of them donning the jackets, they’d been especially stubborn in trying to convince Jughead to  get them ones, too, but seeing as they would have lost them soon after, he didn’t bother getting them one yet. But now as he watched FP helping them out while they pulled them on, he regretted not getting them these jackets before. They looked utterly adorable as they jumped around the room, showing the jackets off to Lizzy and Noah and gushing over how good it looked on them. Jughead’s heart bloomed with love in his chest as his daughters looked up at FP with adoration in their eyes and seeing his dad’s eyes barely shining when the light hit them just right, he wished he’d had a chance in his childhood to do the same but he didn’t dwell too long on those depressing thoughts, instead pushing to the back of his mind to enjoy the star-struck expressions on their faces. 

 

 

Then, Rosie sat in Betty’s lap and Rhea sat in Jughead’s as Noah came forth with two big bags that looked to be from Toys R Us and handed them one each. Betty passed Cheryl and Toni a look that said _Do you have to spoil them?_ While the both of them just shrugged back noncommittally as if to say _Of course we do!_

 

 

Betty and Jughead just shook their heads at them and helped unwrap the big gifts that were almost the size of the girls themselves. The wrapping unveiled two huge off-white teddy bears that were big enough to snuggle with and hold. Betty and Jughead gasped at the matching cuddle buddies and the girls clutched them both tight, hugging them as if their lives depended on it.

 

 

“Thank you, Aunt Cheryl and Aunt Toni.” The girls squealed in unison. 

 

 

“You’re welcome, bub,” Toni replied watching as Cheryl pressed a kiss to both of their cheeks, leaving an imprint of her Cherry red lips behind.

 

 

Next, Lizzy walked up to them, handing two slim, blue and silver wrapped gifts and sat down across from them. These were from Archie and Valerie. Rosie gasped with delight while Rhea gazed inquisitively at the books inside that had the various shapes of musical notes on the covers of them. Rhea hadn’t been the one to have an interest in the workings or detail of things. She’d never been the kind of kid to be curious about uncommon things, instead she loved colourful things, always pointing the odd stuff out to everyone, whereas Rosie had always had a knack for asking such questions that not many kids would think about. Rosie had developed an interest for the art of classical music notations a few months ago when Archie had been working on a new song while babysitting them. She had been excited to learn about all the types of notes and their styles, too. Rhea’s book seemed to be a simpler one, with the basic notes specified by a different colour each while Rosie had a more detailed one as she already knew the basic ones, courtesy of Aunt Valerie. A huge grin spread across Rhea’s face as well at the sight of all the bright colours and she ran up to Valerie to give her a hug, Rosie followed behind, going for Archie as he picked her up and swung her in his arms. 

 

 

The girls were glowing with happiness by the time they went for Veronica and Pea’s gift, which was the most grand-looking one by far and they all couldn’t wait to see what it would be. Betty already knew, without a doubt, that Veronica would have gone overboard in spoiling her goddaughters as much as possible while staying in the boundaries of her one gift per kid limit. And, of course, upon ripping through the packaging, Betty discovered that she had been very much correct. Veronica had gone all out. It was an elegant wooden, seemingly hand-carved, vintage styled dollhouse that was designed to look like a little triple storey house with six rooms, including an ensuite main bedroom on the top level, two smaller ones on the second, one kitchen with an open counter window, a small closet along a short hallway that led to the stairs and the living room on the lowest tier. The theme throughout the little version of a home was dark, like a winter cabin’s would be, consisting of dark purple, magenta, wood-like brown and hints of turquoise blue for contrast. It was beautiful. The girls were delighted at the sight of the beautiful dream house and thanked both Uncle Sweet Pea and Aunt Veronica for it as well as Abel who was like a big brother to them. 

 

 

Then came the turn for Jughead and Betty’s gift and the girls beamed at their parents knowing whatever it was, it would be amazing. 

 

 

And so it turned out to be, as Rosie traced the pretty Italic engraving on the leather bound journal her dad had handed her, that looked very much like the one he carries around with him all the time in case inspiration ever sparks. 

 

 

 _Rose Jones_ , it read. 

 

 

Rhea could not help but stare in adoration at the little angel-shaped night light. Grandmother Alice had told her about the nightlight gifted to Betty on her fifth birthday, and she couldn’t be happier than in that moment, knowing it was her mother’s. She vowed in her heart that she’d take care of it always. 

 

 

Rosie and Rhea looked up when Jughead walked back in the room with his hands behind his back and looked expectantly at him, waiting for the surprise. The gasps could be heard amongst everyone in the room when he showed the girls what he’d had hidden. In his hands were two beanies, one brightly coloured in Rosie’s favourite red, while the other was a lovely shade between lilac and violet purple, same colour as Rhea’s birthday party dress. They were both similar looking to Jughead’s grey crown beanie, with the same pointy and curved edges that looked warm and cosy. The kids made grabby hands at him so he put them on on both of them and they looked utterly adorable. The size fit their heads perfectly and the material had enough give to it that it wouldn’t rip unless purposely cut with a pair of scissors, which the girls would never dare to do as they already loved them so much.

 

 

The girls hugged their parents lovingly, snuggling their faces in their necks as they peppered their heads with kisses. Betty was glad that her daughters loved their gifts and nothing made her happier than knowing how much they were loved by everyone. She couldn’t wait to see the reactions on everybody’s faces on the big reveal. 

 

 

Betty looked at Veronica over her shoulder and gave her the cue to bring out the cake to the dessert table and she nodded back. The little family’s tender moment ended soon and everybody rushed towards the little circular table at the far end of the living room where Veronica placed the birthday cake. The girls held the knife together while Jughead guided it down and cut into the cake as everyone merrily sang the girls Happy Birthday in unison. Rosie grabbed a slice and had everyone take a bite of the deliciously scrumptious chocolate cake with the rich decadent layer of creamy ganache on top which had them all moaning in delight and thanking Betty and Veronica for their effort. 

 

 

Betty proceeded to distribute slices of the cake covered in light blue fondant and as more and more of the cake was getting devoured, the transparent cake tray under it, too, had started to expose itself slice-by-slice, revealing to the naked eye a sheet of black paper placed on the underside of the plate. Something had been written in white with a delicate font, but what it was wasn’t yet completely visible as there were two slices still left to be eaten, covering it. Veronica had been gesturing to all the parents that noticed the writing to, very silently... _wait for it…_  

 

 

Betty was feeling giddy all over once again and her excitement was almost tangible, radiating off of her in waves. She waited until all of the kids and their parents were seated and everyone had had their slice before she called Jughead out to have the last piece. She watched him approach the table eagerly. Jughead grabbed the plate from Betty’s hand and dived in for a bite right away. At first, he didn’t notice anything other than the fact that the cake tray was empty which meant everyone loved the cake and how could they not? But then, Betty purposely cleared her throat and gestured towards the tray again and upon second look, Jughead choked on the bite. Archie passed him a glass of water to drink from and everyone waited with bated breath to see him react. 

 

 

 

 _We’re going to be Big Sisters!_  

 

 

 

Jughead stood frozen in place for a minute there and then he slowly turned to his side where Betty was standing and locked eyes with her, the expression on his face: shocked. His eyes shimmered with the tell-tale shine of tears and he tried desperately to blink them away which only resulted in one escaping from the corner of his right eye. He whispered shakily, “Really?” 

 

 

Betty touched a hand to his face, rubbing the tear away from his cheek and nodded shyly. 

 

 

“ _Surprise, Juggie_. We're pregnant again.” Betty replied slowly, delicately. 

 

 

Jughead swooped in to capture her lips with his in a kiss into which he tried to pour all of his love and adoration. 

 

 

Upon hearing the voices of the kids pretending to gag at the public display of affection, they pulled away from each other and stared into each other’s eyes, his hands framing her face and her fingers gripping his dark locks as they caught their breath. Suddenly, Jughead grinned at her and it being contagious, had Betty beaming back just as brightly. The whole room erupted in congrats and cheers, even Alice letting a small smile slip in. 

 

 

And, Betty decided, that even though she hated the word with all her might, there was no better way to describe her family and her life. 

 

 

It was perfect. 

 

 

Everything was absolutely perfect in the moment. Her husband spun her around a room filled with their family as they all laughed in joy and happiness, looking forward to all this child would bring to their lives. 

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudos or a comment if you like it, I'd really appreciate it.


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